Manuel Neuer (Player, Germany)
Manuel Neuer (born 27 March 1986) Is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bayern Munchen and the German national football team. He is known for his reflexes, excellent shot stopping abilities and distribution of the ball. History Schalke 04 Neuer signed professional terms in 2005 after progressing through every age group at his hometown club. He made his Bundesliga debut when he came on to substitute the injured Frank Rost on match day two of the 2006–07 season. The 20-year-old eventually won the starting position when Rost was surprisingly dropped for the crunch clash against Bayern Munich. He did not disappoint and managed to secure a 2–2 draw against the defending champions. Despite his young age, he was widely tipped to be a potential successor to his former idol Jens Lehmann in the future for the German national team. On 5 March 2008, in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League, Neuer performed fantastically against FC Porto where he almost single-handedly kept Schalke in the game with some brilliant saves and forced the game into penalties. He then saved penalties from Bruno Alves and Lisandro Lopez to help Schalke advance to the quarter finals. For his heroics, he was shortlisted for the 2007–08 UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year award of which he was the youngest as well as the only Bundesliga goalkeeper on the list. He was one of only three Bundesliga players to play every minute in the 2007–08 season. The 2008–09 season was somewhat disappointing as Schalke finished eighth in the league table and missed out on a Europa League spot. However, his good showing at the 2009 U-21 European Championships sparked interest from Bayern Munich, with Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge declaring interest in signing the young goalkeeper. Schalke's new manager Felix Magath, however, insisted that Neuer "will play for Schalke next season". In November, he was the only German goalkeeper in the list of five nominated goalkeepers for the UEFA Team of the Year. On 20 April 2011, he announced that he will not be extending his contract with Schalke which was set to expire at the end of the 2011–12 season. He earned criticism by Schalke-fans, who were disappointed with him leaving for a rival club. Bayern Munchen In 1 June 2011, Schalke and Bayern Munich confirmed that Neuer would move to Bayern Munich in July 2011. Neuer signed a five-year contract that will last until June 2016. The move was worth €22million, making Neuer the second most expensive goalkeeper of all time. After hostilities of Bayern fans against Neuer (some fans were unhappy about Bayern buying a Schalke keeper), a round-table discussion between Bayern Munich and group of supporters’ representatives took place on 2 July 2011. Among other things, it was decided that Manuel Neuer will be "regarded as a full member of the FC Bayern Munich team, who should be treated with due respect. Furthermore, hostility towards him should cease". Right in the first weeks at Bayern, after a 0–0 draw with Hoffenheim, Neuer broke the Bayern Munich record for most competitive clean sheets in a row, having gone over 1000 minutes without conceding. He improved the record formerly held by Oliver Kahn. During an away Bundesliga game at Borussia Dortmund on April 2012, Neuer was pelted with a steady stream of bananas by the home fans. The incident was apparently a call back to when Dortmund fans used to give the same treatment to former Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn. On 25 April 2012, Neuer saved penalty kicks from both Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká and helped Bayern through the UEFA Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid. Following the match, Neuer has revealed that he studied the way Ronaldo took his penalties. Neuer told Bild "I always prepare myself for such situations, Our goalkeeping coach, Toni Tapalovic, showed me on his laptop before the match how Ronaldo usually takes his penalties. I learned that Ronaldo prefers to send the ball low to his left. In the penalty shoot-out, I was convinced that he would aim for his favourite spot." He went on to the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final against Chelsea and it also went to a penalty shoot-out. He took and scored the third penalty for Bayern and also saved the first penalty taken by Juan Mata, but all the rest were scored and Munich lost the trophy 4–3 on penalties. International Youth Team After progressing through the youth teams, Neuer made his U-21 debut on 15 August 2006 against the Netherlands. He won the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship with the Germany national under-21 football team in Sweden and kept a clean sheet in the 4–0 win in the final against England. 2010 World Cup Neuer was called-up on 19 May 2009 to the senior German squad for a tour of Asia. He made his debut on this tour in a match agains United Arab Emirates on 2 June.He played in the November friendly against Côte d'Ivoire that ended 2–2. Although he took responsibility for the first goal conceded, manager Joachim Lö refused to blame him and instead commended him for doing his best. Neuer was selected as Germany's number one goalkeeper for the World Cup in South Africa. During the group stages, he only conceded a single goal, a close range shot by Jovanovic in the match against Serbia. He provided the assist for Klose's opening goal against England, winning 4–1. He played in all of Germany's World Cup matches apart from the third-place game against Uruguay, when Hans-Jörg Butt was rewarded with a spot in the starting lineup. Euro 2012 He played every single minute of every match in the qualification campaign for Euro 2012, helping Germany to secure 10 wins out of 10 games and top their group. After Germany's 3–1 away win against Turkey he was especially praised for his 'sensational' performance. He retained a close range volley shot by Hamit Altıntop, and then he quickly threw the ball to the halfway line into the feet of Thomas Müller, who immediately provided the assist for Mario Gómez's opening goal. Neuer then set up the second goal, under pressure by Turkish attackers he fired a precise long range shot to Mario Götze deep in the opponents half, who found Thomas Müller on the edge of the opponents penalty box to score. He started all three of Germany's matches in the oft-dubbed, "Group of Death". He posted a shutout against Portugal while also conceding one goal each to Denmark and the Netherlands. Germany went on to win Group B, being the only team in the tournament to win all of their group stage games. He finished group play posting two saves against Portugal, three against the Netherlands, and three again against Denmark. Personal Life Neuer was born in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. He attended Gesamtschule Berger Feld, like many other notable footballers, such as Mesut Özil. His brother Marcel is currently a football referee in the Verbandsliga. He got his first football when he was two. He had his first game on 3 March 1991, 24 days before his fifth birthday. Neuer's hero and idol as a child was fellow German and former Schalke goalkeeper Jens Lehman. In November 2011, Neuer won €500,000 for his foundation on Wer wird Millionär?, German version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. Video Category:German players Category:European players Category:Bayern Munchen players Category:Germany national team players Category:German borned players Category:German goalkeepers Category:European goalkeepers Category:Germany national team goalkeepers Category:Bayern Munchen goalkeepers Category:German borned goalkeeper Category:27.03